Pages

January 20, 2014

1000 Places: The Great Smoky Mountains

With all the negativity that began my new year, there was one positive thing, and that would be a quick ski trip to Beech Mountain, North Carolina with Bryan and his friends. But even that wasn't the most positive/amazing experience...
We only went for three days - drive up Thursday, ski Friday, drive back Saturday. We're broke college students in case you forgot, and we have to do things quick and cheap. To give you an idea, 18 of us stayed in a small cabin that "slept five" according to the owner. If only they knew, right? But anyway, we drove the six hours +/- to North Carolina on Thursday, the day after New Year's, and since we got there around 4ish we had the option to night ski, which the majority of us took advantage of. Bryan and I were two of the ones that went night skiing, and boy am I glad I did... The picture above is me and the boyfriend before braving the slopes that Thursday.

We got all our equipment rented, and I made sure to bundle myself up extra tight, and we took to the slopes. Since the sun was setting and neither of us had skied since we were much younger, Bryan and I decided to stay on the intermediate slope. The first couple trips down the mountain we ate some snow, but we quickly got used to it, and soon enough we were getting down the mountain fast and fall-free. I was having a great time. Now, if you'll remember (not like any of you fellow East Coasters want to though) we had a huge snowstorm sweep our side of the country at the beginning of the year, and as it began its decent over North Carolina I was skiing my little heart out on Beech Mountain. But after a while the weather just got too bad, and me and my poor circulation were not feeling it, so I retired to the lodge until the rest of the group had their fill of the mountain for the night. My stomach also started hurting, so I figured it was a good stopping point.

Well, that stomachache was the start of a very miserable 48 hours. I thought I just needed to eat something, but after forcing some pizza down throat I wasn't feeling any better, and I was the first one to sleep. Thankfully, Bryan and I had a bed to sleep in - perks of being the only couple on the trip. Y'all, I was up that whole night getting any and everything that was in my body out of it. It was awful. And the next morning wasn't much better. I decided to stay back for the morning - try to eat and get some fluids in me - and then hopefully meet back up with everyone at lunch time. And I did start feeling better, and I did force myself back out on those slopes.

But wouldn't you know! As soon as I got to the mountain, the big lift to the very top was closed, and the two other lifts had 30-minute-long lines. Talk about bad luck, right? And I didn't have the best attitude about it either, I'll admit. But it would be over my dead body that I did not ski so Bryan stuck with me and the lines, and eventually I got my turn. Naturally, it didn't go well. While we were standing in line I started getting lightheaded - cold sweats really suck, y'all - and my stomachache was coming back. And then, while I was skiing I kept hitting big ice patches, and I took a pretty nasty fall and got snow all up in my clothes. After my one and only run on Friday, I needed to get back to the cabin, and thankfully Bryan's roommate, David, picked me up. As soon as I got back I changed into my pajamas, got in bed, and cried to my mom on the phone. To say I wasn't a happy camper is very modest.

I felt awful the rest of the night, and our drive back home on Saturday was dreadful. Stomachaches and winding mountain roads do not go well together. I feel bad for my car having to listen to me moan all the way back to flat interstate roads, but I did apologize ahead of time for how bad it was going to be. It was just, not a good time. But of course I started feeling better about halfway back to Atlanta. Of course! I get sick when I was supposed to be skiing and start feeling better once we get home. So typical. Curse you 48-hour stomach bug!

So that is my Great Smoky Mountain experience, my 28th place checked off in the book even though it wasn't the best ski-cation. And that explains why there are like, no pictures in this post - I was in bed the whole time. But I did manage to get a couple pictures on my phone from our cabin. We had a pretty nice view.

Sorry for this post being so wordy and long, but if I can't show many pictures I should tell you why, right? But all things considered, I had a good time. I still got to ski one night, and Bryan won best boyfriend ever award for putting up with me and helping me do everything; he was also impressed with my ski skills, so snaps to me. But hopefully my next ski adventure will be much better. And if you made it through this whole post, I applaud you, and thank you for reading.